Xantrex Schematics

[claudio]

I have a Xantrex Mariner 3500VA charger / inverter. When it is connected to shore power as a charger it goes through the three stage charge Ok. The problem is when it is on float, the charging current jumps around from about 2A to 50, effectively at random. There is no apparent reason for this. The loads are constant. The battery bank is 1350AH lead acid, comprising 6 batteries 225AH at 12V. I have contacted Xantrex in the USA, they don't seem to be interested and want to sell me the latest model.
I don't want to be in the same situation in a few years time with no tech support so am very reluctant to buy from Xantrex.

Is there a source of electronic schematics (to component level) for Xantrex products that I can get access to ?

 

[sarabande]

I've tried looking on the Xantrex page, but your ref is not full enough.

Lots of product support details here, though.

http://www.xantrex.com/support/web/id/994/support1.asp

 

[pvb]

[ QUOTE ]
The problem is when it is on float, the charging current jumps around from about 2A to 50, effectively at random.

[/ QUOTE ]How are you measuring this? And what is the charge voltage doing when this happens? If the batteries have reached float stage, you'd surely need a very high voltage to push 50A into them, even with your large domestic bank.

In answer to your question, I doubt whether Xantrex would happily supply circuit diagrams.

 

[claudio]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. It's a Mariner Series M3012 Inverter/Charger manufactured by Trace engineering (part of Xantrex). The unit is around 9 years old. I checked the Xantrex site, the RV3012 device is listed and looks very similar.
Technical info is very basic though and I need schematics to fault find

 

[claudio]

I have a Link 10 monitoring the voltage and an analogue DC Ammeter connected into the charging leg to the batteries. The DC Ammeter is all over the place. When it is in bulk charge mode, the charger can supply up to 150A. This measures correctly and can be verified with the Link 10 unit.

I suspect that the charger is not able to monitor the battery voltage correctly and fires the charging circuit into action whenever it detects (or misreads) the battery voltage.

I need to be able to trace the monitoring circuits but as I said, Xantrex are no help here. You're correct, they won't supply schematics. It's an old unit and is on the list to be thrown out.

I probably won't buy Xantrex as a replacement though in view of their tech support policy.